In his latest installment of Larry at Large, SIGMA President Larry Rybacki catches up with Bill Malarkey, Managing Partner of Amane Advisors, to discuss the high level of M&A activity in the current marketplace.

Larry Rybacki: How do you explain the high volume of M&A in the current marketplace?

Bill Malarkey: We are seeing a lot of activity, and we attribute it to the fact that water is a very attractive area. There is a lot of potential for long-term growth—not explosive, but steady. Water is necessary, it always will be, and it’s a supply and demand issue. People outside of the industry are seeing an opportunity to invest in water systems in urban areas and in industrial production as a long-term play.

LR: Is water the new oil?

BM: I hope not! One key difference is that oil is more portable; water doesn’t travel well, it’s heavy, so it really is more of a local enterprise.

LR: What is driving the M&A, and who is participating?

BM: We see strategic investors looking to diversify their portfolios with a new sector or a new geographic region. We also see financials, and there is a lot of money on the sidelines, because water is an attractive investment. When a water company comes onto the market there is a lot of interest.

LR: Is the market overheating?

BM: We are certainly seeing chunky multiples, which can make for buyer hesitancy.

LR: Who are the buyers?

BM: All sorts. We do deals with everyone from traditional, large private equity firms to mid-market locals, sovereign wealth firms, and even big family firms and infrastructure firms. In the past, these buyers might have had a narrower interest in strictly utilities but now they are open to “utility-like” properties or adjacents. The US is seen as an area of opportunity, because many of the global water markets are more mature.

LR: What technology is generating the most interest these days?

BM: Anything digital. Remote monitoring, remote controls, this all became very hot during the early days of the pandemic and has remained so. There is also a lot of interest around asset management and analytics. On the treatment side, we are seeing a focus on reuse to address the supply issues. And, even some interest in old-style hardcore equipment. The activity slowed a bit in the early days of the pandemic, but it recovered and people became comfortable with remote meetings. I had one client who said to me, “I never thought I could complete a deal without putting on pants!”

To see the full interview, please visit: https://vimeo.com/552153473?fbclid=IwAR0RCRBjOntjfLbL46M1rUcDgzEJJuDP0PnmGvF5lHZIUpPcdP7vpS60fgg

Read SIGMA's latest white paper here: SIGMA White Paper

Check out this Webb-Site: Focusing on the Positive 

Without question, the last 18 months have been difficult—unprecedented, challenging, we’ve all heard and said this countless times since the pandemic began. But we as an industry would be short-sighted and overly pessimistic if we ignore the bright spots that we have all experienced since 2020 began.

In this unprecedented business climate, many manufacturers are experiencing shortages or bottlenecks throughout their global supply chains. This is affecting all types of businesses, but those that rely on steel fabrications, weldments, and stampings are experiencing specific sourcing challenges due to very volatile pricing and raw material shortages.  However, many manufactures have found a solution for sourcing these critical components by converting their fabrications, weldments, and stampings to iron castings.

Fabrications, weldments, and stampings can be labor intensive to manufacture. In addition, they rely on steel from steel mills which is subject to volatile pricing and limited availability.   In many cases, iron castings can be a much better option. Castings are made with liquid metal which is poured into sand molds; this process lends itself more readily to high-volume manufacturing than steel plate fabrication. The raw materials required to produce castings are more plentiful, which stabilizes pricing. Because of the way they are produced, castings can ultimately be lighter, which results in lower overall costs. By redesigning components and converting them to castings, many businesses have mitigated their supply chain pain points and ended up lowering their costs.

To learn how SIGMA OEM can convert your troublesome fabrications to castings and deliver components for your business, please contact the GlobalSourcerer at OEMUSA@sigmaco.com or 800-999-2550.

Check out SIGMA’s latest animation featuring the perfect corrosion protection plan: SIGMA Z-COAT and V-BIO.

The 28^th Rybacki Memorial Golf Tournament is in the books and it was another record breaker! We raised $106,000 for Prostate Cancer research to support the work of Dr. Mary Ellen Taplin of The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

We had 144 golfers play in Massachusetts with another 12 in Birmingham, Alabama thanks to our friends at Spec Rubber. Sixteen of our group played in the morning and 128 in the afternoon, as the field is full at 128. Next year if we get over 168 golfers, we will do a double shotgun at 8:00 AM and 12:45 PM. Due to the overwhelming response, we had to turn a few groups away this year, and we don’t like doing that.

Great weather, great people for a great cause, doesn’t get any better.

Jim Stohr, Branch Manager of the Southwest Regional Office, and his daughter Jessica, Territory Sales Manager, started their Shake N’ Bake stock car racing team about 18 months ago. Jim explains, “It’s a real family affair. Both Jess and I race, and her fiancé races as well as works on the cars. Jess’s son Colton, who is 12, works in the pit and will be old enough to race in the junior division soon if he wants to. We started the team as sort of a memorial to Jessica’s uncle, Troy Brown, who was a racer and passed away a few years ago.” Jessica adds: “Uncle Troy was known as an adventurer to lived life to the fullest. Years ago, he worked for SIGMA, and started racing baby grand cars as both a hobby and a sideline career. When he was interviewed after winning a race about what he did for a living, he said, ‘I sell pipe fittings and stuff!’ This line became notorious among the SIGMA waterworks family.” The Stohr family looked for ways to honor Troy and the racing team has been a perfect memorial.

The team, called “Shake ‘N Bake” is a nod to the iconic Will Ferrell auto racing movie Talladega Nights and they race at the Houston Motor Park on a 3/8 mile track. Jim’s car sports a SIGMA logo. He bought it on a Wednesday and raced it the following Saturday.  Jess’s car, in a further homage to the Ferrell film is the “me” car. Jess describes her entrance to the team: “Dad was hounding me to join the team—I was always the competitive one, challenging him for good and bad, so it is no surprise that I found myself in the driver’s seat.” Jess’s first event was the “Powder Puff Race,” a benefit supporting breast cancer survivors.

Jim describes the race, “I said to Jess, ‘Drive this car like you stole it!’ and she did. She was in the lead and was lapping another car but that driver spun out, causing Jess to crash.” Jim was philosophical: “That happens in racing.” Jess credits the support of her waterworks family with helping rebuild the car, “When our customers and colleagues heard about the race, it spread like wild fire. Techline Pipe, SIGMA, the Racing Monkeys, Crosby Vinyl & Craft Supply, and Resurfacing Unlimited stepped up and with their help we were able to piece together a new front end. We rebuilt the car at a time when Covid was really impacting everyone and things were difficult worldwide—it brought us together and gave us something positive to focus on. Since the races are outdoors, it’s safe for social distancing, and we have bigger and bigger customer presence at each race. All of Dad’s grandchildren come and work in the pit or support him after the races. It’s been such a positive for all of us.” The proud dad credits Jess with marketing the team well: “She has done an amazing job getting the word out. Because of her, have sponsors, customers come to the races, it’s been great.”

To learn more about the Shake ‘N Bake Team, please check out their Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/shakenbakedriving.

SIGMA-Raven is proud to announce the opening of our new HDPE manufacturing facility in Brookfield, OH. We also extend a warm welcome to Jeremy Love, who will manage the new location. Read More ...

Congratulations to Territory Sales Manager Rob Mathews on his retirement after 40 years in the waterworks industry, the last 24 years of which were at SIGMA.  Known for strong customer relationships, Rob built SIGMA’s Western Canada customer base from the ground up. Read More ...

SIGMA is pleased to welcome Mitchell Hoffman, our new Territory Sales Manager for Washington & Oregon. Mitchell lives in the Seattle area and will work out of the Auburn facility when not traveling.

Mitchell comes to SIGMA with solid, relevant experience that will help him transition into his new role.  He has worked with a contractor as well as a distributor, so he has a background in both product and installation. Mitchell brings a great work ethic, positive outlook and a motivation to succeed.

He can be reached at MHoffman@sigmaco.com or 509-630-9874.

We welcome Mitchell to the SIGMA Family, and wish him much success.

Congratulations to Paul Curry, Sales Manager for CSC, a subsidiary of SIGMA OEM, on his appointment to the Seton Hall University Customer Experience Advisory Board. Paul was selected to join this prestigious group due to his background as an entrepreneur and his affiliation with SIGMA. The board is tasked with preserving and enhancing the reputation and quality of Seton Hall’s programs through strategic review of the school’s offerings, advancing its presence and value in the business community, offering expert guidance to faculty, and promoting links between academia and industry. We congratulate Paul on this honor and wish him success in this worthy endeavor.

Best wishes to Lori Grant-Peters, Engineering Assistant, who is thrilled to welcome her daughter Erinn, son-in-law Ryan, and grandson Wesley back to the US after 5 years in Italy. The family will live in the Virginia Beach area. Lori looks forward to exercising her grandmotherly prerogative, “Now I can visit them anytime and spoil Wesley. If I’m not here, you will find me in Virginia!”

Multiple congratulations to Kathy Searles, OEM Business Development Manager, and her husband Scott on several notable milestones in their family:

They proudly announce the engagement of their daughter Meagan Francis to Evan Pattik. Meagan is a graduate of New Egypt High School in New Egypt, NJ, and is employed by the Motor Vehicle Commission of NJ. Evan is a graduate of Pinelands Regional High School in Tuckerton, NJ, and works for the Princeton Public Works Department. They are planning an October 2022 wedding.

They also proudly announce the graduations of their sons Luke and Jude Searles. Luke graduated from the University of Tampa with a Bachelor of Arts in Film and Media Arts. He currently resides near Charleston, SC and is pursuing a career in his chosen field. Jude graduated from Southern Regional High School in Manahawkin, NJ, and is attending Ocean County Community College to study Criminal Justice.

Congratulations to Territory Sales Manager Jessica Stohr and her fiancé Troy Covin on their upcoming nuptials.  They had planned a wedding for Sept 2020, but COVID got in the way. They postponed the wedding a year, a month, and a day, and are tying the knot in Playa Mujeres Mexico. Jessica’s son Colton is serving as the ring bearer. Best wishes to the happy couple!

Congratulations to Maniraj Dhiraviam on his promotion to SPS Deputy General Manager – Banking Finance & Accounting. Maniraj started in the SIGMAFlow Production Solutions Pvt. Ltd. (SPS) Accounting Department, making an immediate impact by converting all accounting and HR functions from external providers to internal management. In his new role, he will continue to work with banking, HR, payroll, legal, and insurance, and will oversee office administration, and support all general managers and deputy general managers and their teams. As part of Maniraj’s expanded responsibilities, he will begin working with sister concerns SIGMA Flow and SIGMA USA on analysis projects. We congratulate Maniraj on his well-earned promotion, thank him for his excellent work, and wish him continued success!